1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of ring laser gyroscopes and more particularly to a ring laser gyroscope that functions as a standard gyroscope as well as an accelerometer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art has disclosed several attempts of controlling the bending of the frame of a ring laser gyroscope. Bending of the frame is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,853 to Ljung. This patent includes a bending actuator for a ring laser gyroscope where bias shifts arising from acceleration or temperature gradient changes can be eliminated by bending the ring laser gyroscope block in an amount substantially proportional to the change. A voltage is applied to one or more piezoelectric crystals bonded to the top and bottom faces of the ring laser gyroscope block. The block can thus be bent to change the pyramid angle by an amount sufficient to offset changes in the pyramid angle caused by bending due to temperature gradient and acceleration changes and, hence, to eliminate this as a source of bias.